Hundreds of people have been volunteering their help

Harris Iqbal, head of programmes, at Muslim charity Penny Appeal, told HuffPost UK the number of volunteers offering to help is “in the hundreds”. He said “we are not turning volunteers away”. Examples of volunteer duties include sorting through stock, manning the reception, manning the food stations.

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Mountains of food and clothing donated to the many people who have lost everything

He added: “All of these donations are going to be used by those in need. These are families that are going to move into temporary accommodation so all of this is needed. A lot of people came out in their pyjamas so they have nothing. So right now a pillow, a blanket, nappies and toothpaste is a luxury at the moment. All of these items are so necessary.”

When asked what the logistics of distributing the donations in the long term will be, Iqbal said that “at the moment we a dealing we the now then we’ll starting thinking about the longer term”. He said that items have been split into sections, so there’s a “food corner, a clothing corner”.

In fact, the sheer volume of donations has been so big that many places have said they do not need any more

Pictures from local relief efforts have shown huge stacks of donated clothes, food and other essentials.